responding to change over following a plan

Failure to plan is planning to fail.

Things change. I might not trust change, but I accept it and allow for it. But there’s always a direction, a star to follow.

Plans provide a common direction and steps to get there. Agile just means the steps aren’t always the right ones, and the goal may change, but you should always have a goal and next steps.

Question the plan, agree on a new plan and agree to follow it. It’s worse than not having a plan because if you don’t follow the agreed goal, especially in silence, you are actively hostile to the success of the team.

Some deadlines don’t change. If you’re in retail, you’d better be ready for Christmas. If you’re a business, you’d better be ready for the end of the tax year.

Keep your plan visible, and keep your plan flexible. It will change, but without a plan and a reason for the work, you’ll never know what you should be saying no to.